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LOT 3134
Extremely Rare Documented “AM. Sterling” Colt Second Model Derringer Pistol with Book - Serial no. 6415, 41 RF cal., 2 1/2 inch
flat top round bbl., nickel finish, walnut
grips. This fascinating Colt Second Model or
“National Derringer” is among the rarest of all
Colt handguns and certainly of Colt’s popular
derringers. The left side of the barrel is stamped
“0 AM.STERLING.” The top of the barrel is roll-
stamped: “+ COLT’S PT. F.A. MFG. CO./HARTFORD
CT.U.S.A.” followed by No 2+.” The serial number, “6415,” is stamped on the bottom of the bird’s head butt and on the underside of the barrel. The sides of the frame top of the receiver and top of the grip strap are decorated with the standard factory scroll engraving. The hammer spur and the face of the trigger are knurled, and both the hammer and trigger have a casehardened finish. The checkered walnut grips have a varnished finish.
Lewis figured out that this material was not actually sterling silver, and No. 3642 was also discussed in the article “Colt ‘Deringers’” by him in the “American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin No. 53” from the fall of 1985 and where it is properly identified as “made of ‘sterling
metal’ from the American Sterling Company” rather than actual sterling silver. In the letter to Lewis from Curator Arline G. Maver of the Connecticut State Library Museum & Colt Collection referenced by Wilson and shown in the article, Maver notes that the factory
ledger on August 27, 1872, records: “Presentation 1 Natnl. Der. Pistol made of Sterling Metal from Am. Sterling Co. $4.75. To American Sterling Co., Naubuc (Conn.) Aug. 15th.” She indicated that was the only reference to American Sterling located in the ledgers.
In the included book, Gamble and Wilson, based on information from Connor FitzGerald, note that
the American Sterling Co. of Hartford, Connecticut, manufactured an alloy similar to German-silver rather than sterling silver, and “The Colt company experimented with the new metal, which had the advantage of an appearance like sterling silver, but of a strength comparable to steel.” The book also points to “The Science Record for 1873: A Compendium of Scientific Progress and Discovery During the Past Year with Illustrations” from 1873 which indicates the new alloy they produced was invented by Helen L. Macker and the new “American Sterling Metal” was being tried for various products, including the important details: “Its strength is so great that it can be, and has been, substituted for steel in the manufacture of pistol-barrels, while repeated tests, made at the Colt Armory, at Hartford, Conn., show that it has three times the tenacity of the latter metal. At an experimental trial, a spring of steel wire parted at 3000 pulls: 82,000 pulls were necessary to break a precisely similar wire of sterling.”
This pistol is pictured and discussed on pages 270-273 of the included copy of “A Life’s Tapestry of a Collector: The Gamble Collection”
by George F. Gamble and R.L. Wilson where the authors note that for a long time the few known “AM. STERLING” marked Colt Second Model Derringers were believed by many, including Wilson, to have been made with solid sterling silver frames and barrels. For example, see page
41 of “The Deringer in America Volume Two: The Cartridge Era” by L.D. Eberhart and R.L. Wilson and the derringer page 263 of “The Book of Colt Engraving” which calls 3642 a “unique solid sterling silver Second Model Colt Derringer, a presentation to the American Sterling Company. Documented by a Colt factory ledger entry.”That pistol is noted as from the George S. Lewis Jr. Collection.
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